The film traces the romances between the Egyptian queen Cleopatra (played by Taylor) and her Roman suitors Julius Caesar (Rex Harrison) and Mark Antony (Burton). Caesar, infatuated with the beautiful Cleopatra, declares her sole ruler over Egypt, although he keeps her as his own lover. When Caesar is assassinated in Rome, Antony, his protégé, assumes power, and he too becomes obsessed with Cleopatra. He eventually marries her, which causes a scandal in Rome and emboldens his political rival Octavian (Roddy McDowall), who launches an invasion fleet to Egypt. In a fierce battle, Octavian’s forces defeat Antony at Actium, near Greece. Wrongly informed that Cleopatra is dead, Antony takes his own life—an act that leads Cleopatra to do the same.

Cleopatra was a troubled production with a background story that dwarfed any on-screen action. Ineptly produced and prone to disaster, the film experienced shooting delays, location changes, script rewrites, and director changes (Rouben Mamoulian was replaced by Joseph L. Mankiewicz). Adding to the drama was the affair between Burton and Taylor (who were both married to other people at the time) and the resulting media frenzy. Although the scandal helped generate huge interest in the movie—Cleopatra was among the highest-grossing films of 1963—the studio was unable to recoup its massive production budget. Cleopatra, however, was not without its merits. The visuals were impressive, and the acting by Burton and Harrison was outstanding; the latter earned an Academy Award nomination. Taylor’s interpretation of Cleopatra, however, was not as praised, with some calling her performance melodramatic.